The Yagas and Gogol Bordello are streaming a studio version of their cover of the Ukrainian love song “Chervona Ruta.” The Yagas’ Vera Farmiga said the following about that:
“I’m a first generation American. I was raised in the Ukrainian diaspora of New Jersey, instilled with an immense pride of my family’s heritage and culture. Ukrainian music and dance were a vital source of strength, identity, celebration and connection to Ukraine. Music has galvanized Ukrainian morale since the Russian invasion began. I thought, what a great way to uplift our loved ones in Ukraine than to perform a bangin’ cover of the quintessential Ukrainian song ‘Chervona Ruta.’ I love this particular song, that my Baba Nadia taught me. I grew up singing it at Ukrainian Plast and Syzokryli summer camps, deep in the woods and wildflower fields of Novyi Sokil, Soyuzivka, and Verhovyna, in New York’s Catskill Mountains. I associate this song with summer romance and lifelong friendships I developed, immersed in Ukrainian scouting and dance culture.
‘Chervona Ruta’ is steeped in complex emotions of romance, resilience, pride, passion and national identity. It’s not just a love song about a girl finding a red flower that brings luck in love. It’s a love song to Ukraine itself, evoking patriotic feeling. I wanted to sing it as a duet with Eugene Hütz of Gogol Bordello. Eugene himself is like a badass blooming mythological flower. He is magic on two feet. He explodes with ferocious love and joy of creativity, his energy pure and infectious. The song has been covered time and time again; we wanted to put our unique bluster and spin on it. Enjoy!”
Gogol Bordello’s Eugene Hütz added:
“This is a particularly meaningful song for me to collaborate on with Vera and The Yagas, given that we are both of Ukrainian descent, even though we were born on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean. We both know it from childhood and with all respect to the original version, we thought of a distinctly tougher spin on it, just like the times we live in. What a natural way to connect and let that song do some inspirational as well as tangible fundraising work to support a trusted fundraising platform like UNITED24.”